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Mining Within Zimbabwe's Great Dyke: Extent , Impacts & Opportunities

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Mining Within Zimbabwe's Great Dyke: Extent , Impacts & Opportunities Mining Within Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke: Extent , Impacts & Opportunities Authors: Gilbert Makore & Veronica Zano Published by: Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) Sponsored by: International Alliance on Natural Resource in Africa (IANRA) Authors: Gilbert Makore and Veronica Zano Editor: Muduso Dhliwayo Copyright: 2012. Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit uses, without special permission from the copyright holder, provided full acknowledgement of the source is made. No use of this publication may be made for resale or other commercial purposes without the prior written permission of ZELA. Year of Publication: 2012 Available from: Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA), No. 6 London Derry Road, Eastlea, Harare, Zimbabwe: Tel: 253381; 252093, Email: , Website: www.zela.org Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association International Alliance on Natural Resource in Africa International Alliance on Natural Resources in Africa MINING WITHIN ZIMBABWE’S GREAT DYKE: EXTENT , IMPACTS AND OPPORTUNITIES I Table of Contents Executive Summary: 1 The Great Dyke Mineral Belt: 2 Mining and Mining Development Contribution to Economic Growth: 5 Companies operating in the Great Dyke: 10 Communities along the Great Dyke: 12 Impacts of Mining on the Great Dyke Communities: 14 Recommendations: 19 Conclusion: 20 MINING WITHIN ZIMBABWE’S GREAT DYKE: EXTENT , IMPACTS AND OPPORTUNITIES ii Executive Summary The Great Dyke is a seam of ore-bearing rock that goes from the north to the south of Zimbabwe. The Dyke spans a total length of 550kms and has a maximum width of 11kms. This geological feature represents an important resource for Zimbabwe's national economy and the local communities' livelihoods. This is because the Great Dyke contains vast mineral resources including the Platinum Group of Metals (PGMs), gold, nickel, copper and chrome among others. Some of the biggest mining companies with operations in other African states operate within the Dyke. These companies include Unki Platinum Mine, Zimplats, Mimosa Mine, Zimbabwe Mining and Steel Company (ZIMASCO) and Falcon Gold among others. In addition to these large scale mining companies, the Great Dyke minerals are also mined by thousands of small scale miners and illegal artisanal miners. This research has three aims. The first one is to establish the mineral resources within the Great Dyke. Zimbabwe and South Africa have 80% of the world's chrome reserves. Most of these chrome reserves in Zimbabwe are found within the Great Dyke Mineral belt. In addition to significant chrome reserves, the country also have a large resource base of PGMs. Zimbabwe has the second largest reserves of platinum in the world. In addition to platinum and chrome, the country also has significant deposits of nickel, gold and other minerals. The second aim is to establish the extent of mining within the Great Dyke. Mining companies such as Zimasco contribute about 1.2% of global ferrochrome production while Mimosa and Zimplats contribute about half of Implats' production. This points to the significant production within the Great Dyke mining activities and further amplifies the importance of this resource base. Establishing the extent of mining within the Great Dyke also requires an exposé of the ownership structures of the mining companies operating within the belt. The research established that most of the mining companies are foreign owned with shareholders in South Africa, China, Britain, Australia and Canada among others. This shareholding structure is, however, forecasted to change as a result of the implementation of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act in Zimbabwe. This Act compels companies to transfer 51% of their shares or interest to indigenous Zimbabweans. The third aim is to assess the opportunities that the implementation of the Indigenisation and Economic Act (IEEA) avails to communities living along the Great Dyke in through Community Share Ownership Schemes or Trusts. The research established that while in principle the IEEA has the potential to benefit, the way in which it is currently being implemented has the potential to weaken and further marginalise communities from mineral resource governance in the Great Dyke. Despite increasing investment in the Great Dyke mineral belt, mining also has negative and positive impacts on the local communities and the nation at large. Mining contributes taxes, exports, jobs and corporate social responsibility projects among other contributions. However, mining companies operating in the Great Dyke also leave a negative footprint through community rights violations and environmental degradation. Despite the centrality of mining within the Great Dyke to the national economy and the livelihoods of local mining communities, mining communities and other stakeholders within the belt have often been left out of the national discourse on mining. The research, therefore, provides recommendations on how mining communities can better organise themselves to engage mining companies and the government. The recommendations also point to the actions that mining companies and government can take to ensure that mining does not violate community rights and significantly benefits the local economy. MINING WITHIN ZIMBABWE’S GREAT DYKE: EXTENT , IMPACTS AND OPPORTUNITIES 1 The Great Dyke Mineral Belt Great Dyke N Great Dyke MOZAMBIQUE ZAMBIA Musengezi Selous Complex Metallurgical Vict oria Falls Complex Harare NAMIBIA Ngezi Hartley ZIMBABWE Complex Selukwe Bulawayo Complex BOTSWANA Mimosa Wedza Complex 0 100 200 Kilometers SOUTH AFRICA Image Source: Implats The Great Dyke is a linear geological feature stretching from the north-south through the centre of Zimbabwe. The Dyke spans 550kms with a width varying from 2kms to a maximum of 11kms. This geological feature represents a strategic economic belt in the country. It has large commercial deposits of nickel, copper, cobalt, gold, and platinum group metals (PGM). The PGMs primarily include platinum, palladium, rhodium and associated base metals (nickel, copper and cobalt). Zimbabwe has the second-largest platinum reserves in the world after South Africa and these platinum reserves are largely found within the Great Dyke. Within the Great Dyke four geological complexes are known to contain PGM and base metal deposits. These are the Wedza Complex, Selukwe Complex, the Hartley Geological Complex and the Musengezi Complex. The Hartley Geological complex is the largest of the PGM bearing complexes containing 85% of the known PGM resources in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe also has approximately 15% of the global chromite reserves and these are also mainly found within the Great Dyke. Chromite is mined throughout the Dyke as the chromite seam deposits span the entire dyke. Some of the chromite mining operations occur especially in the Darwendale, Lalapanzi and Mutorashanga areas. The three largest chrome mining companies are Maranatha Ferrochrome, Zimalloys and Zimasco, although most mines are worked by the tributary system. 1. Wikipedia, Great Dyke, Accessed on 2 March 2012 and Available here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Dyke 2. IMPLATS FactSheet 2011, Accessed on 26 February 2012 and Available here http://www.implats.co.za/implats/downloads/2011/fact_sheets/Implats%20FS_NOV%202011.pdf 3. T. Hawkins and A. England, 'Implats Agrees Zimbabwe Stake Transfer', Financial Times, Accessed on 15 March 2012 and Available here http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/8cc5e264-6d34-11e1-ab1a-00144feab49a.html MINING WITHIN ZIMBABWE’S GREAT DYKE: EXTENT , IMPACTS AND OPPORTUNITIES 2 The Great Dyke is therefore the mineral 'hub' of the country. Some of the largest operations of mining activity are carried out within the Great Dyke. The biggest miners in Zimbabwe by volume and scale of production are located within this rich mineral vein and include, Zimplats, Mimosa Unki, Falcon Gold, Zimalloys, Zimasco and Maranatha among many others. It is also important to note that while most of the biggest players in the mining sector have some scale of operations within the Great Dyke, there is also significant activity from small-scale miners and illegal or artisanal miners. A clear example is within the chrome mining sector. According to the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe, there are over 4 000 registered chromite mining claims that are current and of these, 46% are held by indigenous Zimbabweans with the balance held by five large scale mining companies. The case of chromite mining is very instructive as a significant number of those claims held by large scale mining companies are mined by indigenous small scale mining companies through the tributary system. The tributary system is when small scale miners mine the ore on claims owned by large scale mining companies or on behalf of the large companies. This example clearly shows that while the mining activity within the Great Dyke is largely by large scale mining companies, the activity by small scale indigenous Zimbabweans and their impacts cannot be discounted. An understanding of the resources within the Great Dyke is not complete without a clear picture of production volumes of the various mines operating within the belt. Mining operations along the Great Dyke are either under- ground or surface mining operations depending on the type of mineral. Most of the chrome mining operations are surface mining while platinum and gold mining operations are sub-surface or underground. Zimasco has an installed
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  • A Rheological Investigation of the Behaviour of Two Southern African Platinum Ores ⇑ M
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